See Israel through the eyes of our Beth El members as they
travel the land with Keren Alpert, Rabbinic Associate,
March 22 - April 3.
In short, the countdown is on for what promises to be a transformative experience.
Keep checking this link 'Journey to Israel 2011' or follow us on Facebook with regular posts and,
hundreds of pictures, too. Keren Alpert, Rabbinic Associate
Click here to read the Summary of our Israel 2011 trip to Israel by Keren Alpert.
|
Saturday, April 2
Shabbat is over and we had all sorts of fun.
We enjoyed services in Dana and Elizabeth's room, with lively singing, a sharing activity and even gifts at the end (challah covers). Then, we went downstairs for dinner. Shabbat dinner in the hotel was delicious but way, way too much food. We rolled back to our rooms.
This morning, a contingent went to Masada and the Dead Sea, a few stayed back and did their own thing and a few went on a Shabbat on the go, visiting three services to compare and contrast. All were Orthodox (Hebrew Union College had no services this Shabbat morning!) and all had women's sections. One was giant (the Great Synagogue) and had a beautiful, men's only choir.
Tonight we say goodbye to Cathy, Diane, Gil and Ruth who have a Saturday evening flight. Tomorrow morning at dawn the rest of us leave, and we will be home in Michigan on Sunday evening, except the few who are staying on for a bit, or heading elsewhere.
Happy birthday to Joel and Larry.
L'hitra'ot for now!!!
|
JOURNEY TO ISRAEL
Friday, April 1
It's Friday and we are ready, ready, ready for Shabbat!
The heat wave came and it seemed to stay with us most of the day. We began our morning at the Davidson Center, where we enjoyed going back to the time of the Temple and seeing how archaeologically, we could see evidence of the Roman destruction of the Temple mount, particularly the collapse of the Robinson's Arch, named after the British man who discovered the arch.
We had with us prayers from this year's 3rd graders at Temple, who last year for their celebration of Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israeli Independence Day) had written prayers to be placed in the wall. The sentiments and the invented spelling were lovely. Some children prayed for things ("a TV in my room"), but many others prayed for peace, long life and some offered thanks. One child wrote, "I wish for peas". We assume he wasn't looking for the vegetable. Another child wrote, "I wish I could help Israel". We went to the wall, and these heartfelt requests are all securely placed, just in time for Shabbat.
After the visit to the wall, we headed through the Arab shuk to the Christian holy site, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Then we returned to the Jewish quarter and toured the Herodian mansions, seeing the evidence of the well-to-do priestly families, who had bathtubs, mikvaot (ritual baths) and lots of storage space. Finally, we got in our last shopping in the Cardo before walking to Jaffa Gate.
And then, it was the Phyllis special: a picnic in the park. Phyllis had recruited shoppers and schleppers and with a lot of teamwork, we had delicious appetizers, sandwiches, drinks and dessert.
After our sunny, warm day, we returned to the hotel. We are relaxing and showering and getting ready for services and dinner. Tomorrow our group is going different directions. Some are going to Masada and the Dead Sea, some are taking a Shabbat walk to various synagogues, and some are visiting with family and friends. We will have our farewell dinner, havdallah and leave early in the morning on Sunday.
Well, for those of you reading this from outside the land of Israel, this will probably be our last entry before we get home. We won't write an entry again until after Shabbat, which will be posted on Monday morning, and we'll already be home!
We can't wait to see our families, but we hope to return to Israel again, too.
L'hitra'ot......
Memorial service at Yad Vashem
Military cemetery at Mt. Herzl
 
Group visits the grave of Yonatan Netanyahu Dana and Elizabeth in the front of the bus Jim meets a man from Belorussia at Lifeline for the Old...
could they be related?
Thursday, March 31
It was another significant day, here in Jerusalem.
We woke up this morning and headed to Yad l'Kashish, also known as Lifeline for the Old. This is a wonderful non-profit organization that provides meaningful work for the elderly poor of Jerusalem, mostly Russian and Ethiopian immigrants. Here they make beautiful products by hand: kiddush cups, tallitot (prayer shawls), candle holders, and all kinds of other things. The elderly receive a small stipend, get a hot meal and with dignity are able to give back. We spent a fair amount of time and money in their gift shop!
After Yad L'Kasish, we traveled to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. We had a special memorial ceremony in the Valley of the Communities and then soberly explored the museum, ending with a moving visit to the Children's Memorial.
From Yad VaShem, we went to Har Herzl, the military cemetery. When we arrived, we saw various regiments of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) preparing for the annual ceremony for Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israeili Independence Day). We saw the tombs of Theodor Herzl, of course, as well as Yitschak Rabin, Golda Meir, and Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of Israel's current Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, and hero during the Raid on Entebbe.
Tonight, we head to dinner on our own at Mamilla Mall, as well as the sound and light show at the Tower of David Museum.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
Cathy and an example of Israel's finest Pictures of our group learning and exploring at Beit Shearim
All dressed up and ready for the past! The group in Mishnaic outfits at Kfar Kedem, and Keren with her new friend. Did they have cell phones then?
Wednesday, March 30th
Today, we began to explore Jerusalem in earnest, first with a visit to the active archaeological dig at the City of David, south of the old city walls, the site of David's palace. We saw a 3-D move, walked through Canaanite tunnels and learned about the remarkable discoveries regarding this site. It was a lot of walking, but none of us was willing to pay the extra 5 shekels for the ride back up to the top. We're too tough for that.
After the City of DAvid, we heard that our pigeon indeed arrived back at Kfar Kedem, so we were relieved and amazed that a pigeon in a box on a bus could be lot out in Jerusalam and make it all the way home. How amazing! We entered the Old City walls and went to the Western Wall, the Kotel. It was busy, but beautiful, and there was much to see and do, including putting prayers in the wall.
From the Old City, we headed to the Menachem Begin Center. It was a real celebration of a unique individual, who started off in the underground Etzel, became part of the loyal opposition, rose to become the first right of center prime minister and orchestrated the Camp David peace. We were moved by his idealism and his accomplishments.
From the Center, we grabbed some quick lunches and then went sifting at the Emek Tsurim. This is the "garbage" that has been tossed away during an illegal digging process on the TEmple Mount. Our group found Byzantine glass, a coin, some bones, mosaic tile, and a lot of pottery. We were very excited about the coin, the only one found that day.
Then, instead of going to the hotel we went shopping in the Cardo. And afterwards, we still didn't return to our hotel!!! Instead, we explored the rabbinical tunnels, seeing the western wall at the very bottom. How cool! How much money did King Herod have at his disposal? Apparently, a lot.
After a very long day, we had a nice relaxing dinner in a beautiful setting. We will alll sleep well tonight, and keep this on the down low, tomorrow night we're going to lose another hour; daylight savings time begins in Israel. Oy.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, March 29th
Sorry we couldn't send anything yesterday. The business center was closed by the time we got back from dinner. No wifi in the room!
It was a very busy day, as we explored the Galilee region.
Our day begin with a visit to Beit Shearim, the site of many burial caves filled with both plain and fancy sarcophagi. Probably the most famous "resident" of Beit Shearim was Rabbi Judah HaNasi, the editor of the Mishnah. In keeping with his wishes, we studied his famous sayings, along with his biography, above where he was buried. After exploring the catacombs, we traveled to Tzipppori, the sight of an ancient Roman and Jewish city. We saw the "high rent district" with beautiful mosaic floors and incredible archaeological treasures, including an ancient toilet. Since we are obsessed with bathrooms, this was particularly significant for our group.
From Tzippori, we headed back to Mishnaic time in Kfar Kedem, as we dressed in traditional clothes, learned how to make bread, from growing and threshing the wheat, to baking it, saw a brand new baby lamb being born, had lunch in the tent, and rode donkeys. On the way out, we had an extra passenger on board: a carrier pigeon for us to send a note back, telling the owners of Kfar Kedem how much we enjoyed the day. We kept the pigeon quiet and headed up to Jerusalem.
We stopped at the Haas Promenade, said prayers of thanksgiving for being able to ascend to the holy city, drank a cup of wine, and released the pigeon.
We enjoyed an evening of leisure in Jerusalem.
|
On a former Syrian bunker in the Golan Heights These are from the Jordan River 
Keren meets up with Eitan Kalmowitz, Outside the Teffen industrial park
who is studying at Yeshiva in Ts'fat
Monday, March 28th
Another great day in Israel, and the group is getting sillier...
We left for the Tefen Industrial Park, which is an ingenious working community that combines manufacturing, evocative outdoor art into a breeding ground for startup companies in the north of Israel. Tefen is the home of Iscar, Ltd., which was purchased by Warren Buffett.
We left Tefen and headed to Tsfat, home of kabbalah, and lots of Judaica shops. We even got to see Eitan Kalmowitz, who is studying in Tsfat.
From Tsfat, we had a tour of Kibbutz Gadot, and learned about the Kibbutz movement and the changes to the movement. We had a nice lunch at the Kibbutz and then headed straight to the Golan Heights in bumpy jeeps. We were so lucky to see not only borders and fenced off land mines, but also migrating storks, hoopoes, falcons and even a few gazelles. We took a picture on top of an old Syrian bunker and really thought about what it means for Israel to live within its borders.
In order to help us calm down from the jeep ride, we had a delicious wine tasting in Golan and then had a huge dinner on the shore of Lake Kinerret (Galilee) followed by dancing to Motown favorites, which turned quite comical, and was followed by more hilarity on the bus.
We are ready for more great stops tomorrow and our momentous entry into Jerusalem.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
We said goodbye to Tel Aviv, with great memories of a beautiful, vibrant city, as we headed north.
On the way out of the city, we passed by Kikar Rabin, Rabin Square, where Yitzchak Rabin was murdered in November 1995. This led to a long discussion in the bus about Israeli politics, American politics, and the issues that we American Jews often grapple with.
We finally ventured north after grappling not with politics, but with Tel Aviv traffic. Rothschild's grave was in the form of a cave, echoing the original purchase of land in the Promised Land, a burial cave for Sarah, bought by Abraham.
Next we arrived at Atlit, which originally served as a detention camp for Jews who tried to enter pre-statehood Israel, but were barred entry by the British. The British captured these Jews, as they tried to arrive by boat and interned them at Atlit. On the grounds of Atlit there was an intact processing center for these illegal immigrants, and more miraculously, a boat used by these refugees. Inside the boat, there was an incredible multi-media depiction of the terrible conditions of these refugee boats. We more clearly understood the depressing situation these illegal immigrants faced: the added insult of being taken into detention after trying to be free of the Nazi scourge all over Europe. We were deeply saddened to think of those European survivors of the Shoah (the Holocaust) who again were in a camp surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers, with again segregated men's and women's camps. It was a sobering and moving experience to be at Atlit.
From Atlit, we drove by Mt. Carmel and could see where the recent forest fire has killed off many of the trees. We continued up the gorgeous Mediterranean coast with the blue sea to our left and fields full of wildflowers. What an amazing vista our bus provided!
We headed to Acco, and had a group felafel experience. Many of us have now had hummus and/or tomatoes at every meal since arriving in Israel, including breakfast, of course.
Acco was the site of an old Crusader fortress, destroyed by the Muslims after they defeated the Crusaders and then rebuilt in later years by the Ottoman Turks and utilized even later as a prison during the British Mandate. We discussed the history of the prison fortress, learned how the Jewish prisoners planned their great escape prior to statehood and then we walked through the ancient Crusader tunnels.
We left Acco and explored the blue water and white limestone grottoes of Rosh Hanikra. The exquisite setting was marred only somewhat by our knowledge that we were 30 feet from the Lebanese border, a border which does not allow crossing at this time.
Israel is a beautiful place in a tough neighborhood.
Finally, after a very long, but lovely day, we checked into our rooms in the north and joined together for a raucous dinner with lots of conversation, laughter...and more hummus and tomatoes.
March 25th and 26th, 2011
We had a relaxing, lovely Shabbat in Tel Aviv, and we are refreshed and ready to head north on Sunday morning, bright and early.
...On Friday night our group had services with just us. It was a nice intimate setting and was a sweet way to welcome Shabbat. Then we joined together around one big table for a large, and we mean large Shabbat feast. The food kept coming and coming and coming: salads, vegetables, rice, potatoes, liver, fish, meatballs, spring chicken, veal, more fish, soup, challah, fruit, dessert, coffee, tea, and on and on. The waitstaff told Phyllis Loewenstein that she had a very nice family, so we truly are getting along very well!
Saturday morning, after breakfast overlooking the Mediterranean, we had outdoor services with guitar music and our traveling Torah accompanied by the sounds of the beach and curious onlookers who stopped to take our picture. Judy Roberts gave the announcements (including one about timbrel lessons on the beach at 3:00 led by Miriam with of course, a nominal fee). We all did a group aliyah (Torah blessing) and of course, ended with Tefilat Haderech: may this be our blessing.
Then, we did what Israelis do in Tel Aviv on Shabbat: whatever they want! Some walked to the port, some walked to Jaffa, some went to the Eretz Yisrael museum, some met relatives and friends for lunch, some swam in the pool, some dipped their feet in the ocean, some went into the rooftop sauna, some watched Israeli tv, some drank coffee on the beach, some went to the symphony. We kept seeing each other, and comparing notes and expressing excitement for the next big adventure: our trip up north.
We will miss the hospitality of Tel Aviv, the excitement, the gorgeous sunshine, but we have so much more to see.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Statement about rabbi relationships from Basking in the Tel Aviv sunshine Eating salad outside in a Tel Aviv cafe Where David ben Gurion declared the state of Israel
Israel Salanter: have times changed?
Friday, March 25, 2011
The rain has cleared and we had a beautiful, full day in Tel Aviv.
Our morning started at the Diaspora Museum, which has been renovated and rejuvenated in the last several years. All of the models of the synagogues there made us wistful for all of the Kushner models in our own Temple, in the Prentiss library, that we feel so lucky to have! It was a great tour of the history of our wanderings, beginning with the destruction of the Temple in the year 70.
After the Diaspora Museum, we went to the Palmach museum, which is definitely still one of the hottest tickets in town, due to its setup and small size. All of us were visibly moved with the incredible sacrifice of these elite fighters of Israel, who truly sacrificed their lives for the state, as it is said, giving their best on a silver platter.
From the Palmach museum, we headed to Independence Hall, and we had a very animated guide who recreated for us the declaration of the state of Israel, in the former mayor, Meir Dizengoff's house.
After three museums, we needed a felafel infusion and we got it at the Shuk Ha Carmel (Carmel Market) and the artists' fair at Nachalat Binyamin. We helped the Israeli economy with some of our purchases.
Truthfully, the Israeli economy looks pretty darn good, and each American dollar gets us 3.5 shekalim (shekels). Wow!
We are preparing for Shabbat services, with just our group, and then dinner. Tomorrow, we'll again have services and then be on our own in sunny, warm Tel Aviv.
We'll send more news on Saturday night, Tel Aviv time!
Shabbat shalom!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
It rarely rains in March in Tel Aviv, but today we saw the unusual: pretty significant but much needed rain!
We spent the morning underground at the archaeological digs at Beit Guvrin. Our group found animal bones, lots of pottery sherds, and several oven bricks. We enjoyed exploring the caves, which were of the Hasmonean era (Maccabees). The community was sort of the Silicon Valley of its time, wealthy suburbs, with a tremendous manufacturing and export capacity: sending pure olive oil to all of the Mediterranean. We saw a fully excavated cave with its olive oil press.
After our cave explorations, we headed in the rain to Neot Kedumim, a wonderful park which includes all of the varieties of plants mentioned in the Bible. We enjoyed the wildflowers and the huge variety of trees: cypress, olive, fig, etrog, in addition to barley and wheat. We had a delicious lunch with lots of warm coffee.
We finished our outside day in the drizzle planting both oak trees and terebinth trees in the Seven Species area of the park.
Tonight, we have dinner in old Yaffo (Jaffa) and tomorrow we hit the historic Tel Aviv with some well-timed shopping, too. Our group all gathered together in Ben Gurion airport, excited for our adventures.
We were dismayed to hear as soon as we had arrived that there had been an explosion at the Central Bus terminal in Jerusalem. We were nowhere near that area, and it's not a place on our itinerary, but when one Jew suffers the whole body of the community of Jews feels the pain.
Tel Aviv continues to hum. This is the perfect time of year to visit, especially when escaping the cold Michigan March. Several people were on the hunt for the perfect felafel, others looked for fancier fare. The seaside views are outstanding and the group is in a good mood. We're ready for showers and bed and tomorrow, our adventure continues.
L'hitra'ot--
The Journeyers to Israel
Keren Alpert has just called from Tel Aviv. The group has landed safely and everyone is very excited. They are aware of the bombing in Jerusalem and are taking great caution with their safety. The Journey to Israel Photo Album will be updated with remarks as they come in....stay tuned for more updates!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
